Maybe we ought to start calling Gov. Rick Snyder ďThe Investment Nerd,Ē and thinking of him not just as a political leader, but as the stateís chief long-range financial planner.

Iím not sure Iíve seen another politician demonstrate such a grasp of, or affinity for, the idea that for Michigan to be strong in the future, we have to invest ó in infrastructure, people and creative momentum ó now.

In his budget address Thursday, the governor asked the Legislature to pour $130-million into early education over the next two years and requested bumps to the outlays for K-12 and higher education. He repeated his request for another $1 billion for the stateís atrocious roads, embraced national health reformís Medicaid expansion, and played up his efforts to pay down the stateís debt while increasing reserves.

Itís not unusual for politicians to push for any one or even a few of those ideas. But packaging them together, while arguing that theyíll make Michigan better long after he has left office, makes Snyder an exception.

When he was talking about the road investment, Snyder put his investment strategy simply: ďYou change your oil or you rebuild your engine.Ē But he may as well have been talking about his approach to a number of different funding requests.

More kids in preschool

First among them is early education. Michigan has 30,000 four-year-olds who are eligible for public preschool programs but canít get slots because the state doesnít pay for them. Snyder proposes to boost funding by $65 million in the next fiscal year, and another $65 million in 2015, which would cover about 29,000 of the kids still waiting.

Itís extra money, yes. But it will pay off in the long run; kids, especially those who are at-risk, perform better and are more likely to graduate when theyíve attended preschool. And the investment will be less costly than what Michigan already pays for the 13,000 children who must repeat kindergarten each year, in many instances for want of skills they could have gotten in pre-K.

Snyder also bumped requested allocations for K-12 and higher education. But those programs have taken bigger hits in recent years, and the governor will have to do more in subsequent years to restore them fully.

Snyder was quick to point out Thursday that the state should be credited for lowering school districtsí obligations to retirees by paying down debt and prefunding retirement obligations. (He has also asked for more contributions from employees to help defray retirement costs.)

If those savings are taken into account, funding for K-12 has gone up 11% since Snyder took office.

Improving health and roads

Snyderís decision to take advantage of the Medicaid expansion available with the national health reform act is another long-term investment strategy.

It will mean getting insurance (rather than relying on emergency room visits) for 470,000. Michigan residents, eliminating millions in uncompensated care and stabilizing health maintenance for a bigger share of the population.

The state will also save about $200 million a year in Medicaid costs; $100 million will be placed in a savings account to pick up the tab in 2017, when the federal government will begin asking states to start paying a share of the Medicaid expansion costs.

Snyderís road plan makes eminent sense. Itís a money issue, and a safety issue as well. We donít pay enough in taxes right now (gas or otherwise) to maintain the roads the way they should be, so we need to raise another $1.2 billion to invest up front.

Snyder has also built up the stateís rainy day fund, from around $2 million to more than $500 million, and is planning to continue growing it to $1.2 billion.

Snyder could have addressed investment in other ways, too. He might have proposed restoring the earned income tax credit as a way to help balance the books after giving businesses a giant tax cut. Helping struggling families was a driving influence behind the governorís push for Medicaid expansion; the EITC serves a similar purpose.

Snyder called for more investment into the sateís mental health services, but given the shambles it has been in for two decades, even more will be required.

But overall, this budget address marks a transition for Snyder. His message is now about laying the groundwork for long-term stability in the state, and that means plowing resources into long-neglected priorities.

E.F. Hutton and Smith-Barney have nothing on him.

Stephen Henderson is editorial page editor of the Free Press and the host of ďAmerican Black Journal,Ē which airs on WTVS-channel 56 at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Contact Henderson at shenderson600@freepress.com, or at 313-222-6659.